# Share your favorite DVD commentary tracks **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 15, 2010, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-dvd-commentary-tracks/550327 "2010-08-15T14:22:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-dvd-commentary-tracks/550327/41 "2010-08-17T12:00:09Z")
I recall really enjoying the commentary tracks for Ricky Gervais’s stand up DVDs, probably _Animals_ and _Politics_. I had seen both but my nephew was watching them with the commentary on, which never would have crossed my mind. and it was fascinating to hear. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-dvd-commentary-tracks/550327/42 "2010-08-17T13:15:53Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > Kevin Smith’s commentaries are usually as entertaining as the movie. Agreed. I also like Brian Singer’s commentaries, too. He usually has some one else along, who helps to keep the conversation moving. ---
**Author:** ![fusoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecccb3/32.png) [@fusoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fusoya)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-dvd-commentary-tracks/550327/43 "2010-08-17T13:25:35Z")
**The Simpsons and Futurama** have excellent commentary tracks. I’ve listened to many of these multiple times. My favorite has gotta be for _Dead Putting Society_, since they do a great analysis of how and why Homer hates Flanders so much. The only tracks that are less than stellar are the ones where either the voice actors (Simpsons only - the Futurama voice actors are great contributors) or the kids of one of the producers show up, since they waste time asking stupid questions. My favorite random line in one of the tracks is “just what kind of show does Krusty have??” _Panic Room_ has an excellent commentary track, where they discuss the crazy cinematography in that film (you really have to watch the camera work closely, because it really does some excellent stuff) and how they tried to make the ultimate B-movie. David Fincher is one director who goes all out on all of his DVDs, so I’d recommend the others too. _UHF_ also has an excellent example of how to do a fun commentary. Al definitely did his homework and took notes in preparation for it, and the other actors make short but sweet appearances. Weird Al’s music video commentaries are just as good too. _Armageddon_ has both a hilarious AND informative commentary by a couple of bigwigs from NASA, who rip apart the movie’s scientific merits. Generally, commentary tracks by the production crew are much better time spent than ones with the actors (unless the actor was also involved in production). Actors are often left in the dark with the behind the scenes stories, so don’t have much to say aside from what they did with the character and who else they worked with in front of the camera, which is hard to stretch for 2 hours. Also, commentaries with multiple actors are usually recorded separately, and then edited together, which is why there’s no interaction between them. And avoid any Mel Brooks tracks like the plague. That guy does NOT know how to record one. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-dvd-commentary-tracks/550327/44 "2010-08-17T13:39:02Z")
David Fincher and Brad Pitt make good commentary tracks. **Seven** was good, **Fight Club** was better. Chuck Palahniuk’s commentary on Fight Club was also halfway decent. **True Romance** had a couple good ones, the best being the one with Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette. The Tony Scott one was decent. As much as I like his movies, Quentine Tarentino is unlistenable on commentary tracks. I avoid him like the plague. ---
**Author:** ![fusoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecccb3/32.png) [@fusoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fusoya)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-dvd-commentary-tracks/550327/45 "2010-08-17T13:43:06Z")
I thought Tarentino was one of those “let the movies speak for themselves” director, and he only did a commentary on Reservoir Dogs since it was his first film? Speilbergo has the same attitude, except he thinks ALL directors should have that mentality. His buddy George Lucas doesn’t share it, but probably should, since his Star Wars commentaries are pretty dull, as if he was afraid to actually open up about them and just wanted to do it by the book. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-dvd-commentary-tracks/550327/46 "2010-08-17T13:52:47Z")
He does a commentary for True Romance which is unlistenable. I love listening to commentary tracks and couldn’t get through 10 minutes of his. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-dvd-commentary-tracks/550327/47 "2010-08-17T18:21:40Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > He does a commentary for True Romance which is unlistenable. I love listening to commentary tracks and couldn’t get through 10 minutes of his. Speaking of unlistenable, there is the infamous Paul Verhoeven scream in the commentary of…yeesh I forget if it was Robocop or Starship Troopers. ---
**Author:** ![lindsaybluth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90db22/32.png) [@lindsaybluth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lindsaybluth)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-dvd-commentary-tracks/550327/48 "2010-08-17T19:27:49Z")
Arrested Development’s is pretty good. Will Arnett shows up late and Mitch Hurwitz is giving him a hard time “Why ya late, buddy?”. He was late because…he doesn’t have a license due to a DUI, so his wife had to drive him. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-dvd-commentary-tracks/550327/49 "2010-08-17T23:58:06Z")
The third commentary track of Date Movie. Now, the movie is very poor, granted. The first two commentaries on it are by the movie makers and the cast, respectively. They are literally unwatchable: the commentators were not allowed to refer specifically to the movies being parodies, but they ignored this restriction, resulting in audio tracks which were liberally ‘beeped’, to the point of literal incomprehensibility. I shut each of them down in minutes, in frustration. The third commentary, on the other hand, is pure gold. For unknown reasons the dvd-makers decided to get two impartial movie critics in to do an ‘anti-commentary’, and the result was awesome. Unlike those who make the movie these men had the cognitive ability to remember to obey the ‘no direct references’ rule, and yet still managed to make their opinions clear - and their opinions were that the movie _sucked_. Which opinions were expressed very clearly, calmly, and articulately, utterly shredding the movie with point after considered point. It was not a rifftrax session or other similar mockery; it was a devastating assault of intelligent analysis and recognition of quality - or in this case, the complete lack thereof. I’ll probably never watch the movie ‘normally’ again, but at some point in the future I might put in that commentary just to revel in the pure awesomeness thereof. ---
**Author:** ![Student\_Driver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3da27b/32.png) [@Student\_Driver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Student_Driver)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-dvd-commentary-tracks/550327/50 "2010-08-18T01:09:09Z")
I’ll third Kevin Smith’s commentary tracks. Funny and self-deprecating, usually involving a large number of cast and crew who are willing to talk about both the good and bad points, technical details and celebrity trivia. The big reason why I was disappointed in the home releases of his last two movies, _Zack and Miri Make a Porno_ and _Cop-Out_, was their lack of commentary. The much-maligned _Jersey Girl_ has two tracks, and _Clerks II_ has three of them. John Waters also does good commentary tracks. Again, funny and self-deprecating, with his unique view on celebrity and film-making, and lots of inside information. His commentary on _Mommie Dearest_ is pretty interesting stuff, and argues well that the movie is better than its reputation suggests. Both Smith and Waters have both also done good work doing semi-scripted/semi-improv live one-man show/stand-up comedy/Q&A session hybrids that have been released to DVD (_An Evening with Kevin Smith_ series and _John Waters: This Filthy World_ respectively), so I suspect their natural on-stage ability to entertain is what makes their commentary tracks so good. Avoid the horrible _Sold Out: A Threevening with Kevin Smith_, though; from a different studio than the original _Evening_ series, it’s poorly edited, boring, and is less movie-oriented than the originals. ---
**Author:** ![fusoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecccb3/32.png) [@fusoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fusoya)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-dvd-commentary-tracks/550327/51 "2010-08-18T14:51:29Z")
Wasn’t Date Movie the DVD that also had a laugh track option? This was the movie where one of my friends bet me $20 I couldn’t watch the movie from start to finish in one sitting. He won that bet - and it took me 3 sittings over 2 days to get through the 90 minute film. I at least got my $20 back when I made (and won) that same bet with my brother a week later. Seeing how Kevin Smith has openly told his fans to NOT watch Cop Out (and trust me, you want to take his advice on that), as he only directed the film so he could get some extra $$ to buy a new car, I’m not surprised to hear that he didn’t record a commentary track. ---
**Author:** ![FrigidLizard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3bc359/32.png) [@FrigidLizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FrigidLizard)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-dvd-commentary-tracks/550327/52 "2010-08-18T22:51:30Z")
The Fellowship of the Ring extended edition has a great track with the four actors who played the hobbits all together. They have a lot of fun with each other in a very “guy” sort of humor (Elijah Wood gets called out on having farted during the filming of one action scene), and they all have a lot of interesting anecdotes. I must have watched that movie more often with the commentary than not. ---
**Author:** ![banjoDavid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3d9bf3/32.png) [@banjoDavid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/banjoDavid)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-dvd-commentary-tracks/550327/53 "2010-08-18T23:20:34Z")
The Princess Bride has 2 commentaries, screenwriter William Goldman and Rob Reiner, both great. Leonard Maltin’s commentaries on the Marx Brother’s Night at the Opera and Day at the Races. Looney Tunes cartoon sets 1-4 have great commentaries by artists from Warner Brothers, historians, and Stan Freburg and June Foray, voice artists. Mel Brooks commentaries on Young Frankenstein, Spaceballs, Blazing Saddles. Billy Crystal talking about Mr. Saturday Night. Monty Python’s 3 movies AND, the previously mentioned Contact and This is Spinal Tap. David ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Ed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Just\_Ed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Ed)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2010, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-dvd-commentary-tracks/550327/54 "2010-08-19T00:45:45Z")
> [@Student\_Driver](#): > > The big reason why I was disappointed in the home releases of his last two movies, _Zack and Miri Make a Porno_ and _Cop-Out_, was their lack of commentary. > [@fusoya](#): > > Seeing how Kevin Smith has openly told his fans to NOT watch Cop Out (and trust me, you want to take his advice on that), as he only directed the film so he could get some extra $$ to buy a new car, I’m not surprised to hear that he didn’t record a commentary track. 😕 Kevin Smith vehemently defended _Cop Out_ from its many detractors on his Twitter feed, going so far as to suggest critics should have to pay to see movies. He’s repeatedly said the movie was done as a homage to the buddy cop movies of the 80’s and should not be taken seriously. And he did quite an extensive commentary for it (albeit apparently only available on the blu-ray edition). That commentary is better than the movie itself, as Smith takes Warner’s “Maximum Movie Mode” format and renames it “Maximum Comedy Mode” and riffs on everything from all the little tributes they put in to commenting on his own commentary. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2010, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-dvd-commentary-tracks/550327/55 "2010-08-19T03:00:02Z")
The Blu-ray edition of **Pan’s Labarynth** has the greatest video commentary I have ever seen. Guillermo Del Toro does a spectacular job describing the movie and the video portion has drawings, notes, and actually replays other scenes as he is talking about it. It makes the movie so much more beautiful and it really shows how much work is in every…little…thing. Also the video commentary on the original Michael Bay **Transformers** is really cool. Lots of behind the scenes stuff and alternate lines/takes. Good stuff. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2010, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-dvd-commentary-tracks/550327/56 "2010-08-19T06:01:42Z")
I don’t know if it will appeal so much to you guys, since you seem to discount some types of commentaries that I wouldn’t. but I’m a big fan of the interactive commentaries on [_Robot Chicken_’s website](http://www.adultswim.com/shows/robot-chicken/extras.html#). (Warning: overly bright background links to overly dark one.) ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2010, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-dvd-commentary-tracks/550327/57 "2010-08-19T06:43:59Z")
> [@Just\_Ed](#): > > Roger Ebert’s commentary tracks are outstanding. The one he did for _Citizen Kane_ is a must for anyone who questions that movie’s status as one of the greats (as I once did), and he has one on _Dark City_ that is very good as well. Not only that, but the quality audio tracks of hours of Roger Ebert talking in a very quiet sound studio has [literally given him back his voice](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMyxgSLESz8). > [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > At least one of the LOTR DVDs has no less than four commentary tracks (extended edition, I think). While fun, I think this is overkill. **Equipoise** has listened to every one of the commentary tracks of all three films. > [@multimediac17](#): > > I’ve never actually listened to the commentary despite owning the DVD, but apparently during the commentary for Dancer In The Dark, director Lars Von Trier spends the entire time bitching about what a total jerk Bjork was, and how difficult it was to work with her. Coming from that asswipe, it is high praise. There are excellent reasons no actress has worked with him twice. > [@Princhester](#): > > On the commentary track Parker, Stone and other members of the cast announce early on they have several bottles of whiskey which they are going to drink by the end of the commentary. Consequently the beginning of the commentary is relatively sensible, but by the end it consists mostly of slurred whgbrrls and drunken laughter. The best “commentary track party” is the one for [_Bound_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115736/). As far as I know, it is the only commentary track the Wachowski’s have done for any of their movies. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2010, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-dvd-commentary-tracks/550327/58 "2010-08-19T06:55:46Z")
Youo wouldn’t think that a low budget Italian zombie movie would have a decent commentary track, but [The Beyond](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001D5C1OO) has an excellent and very funny commentary from two (now) elderly British actors who regale with ancedots of making a zero budget film with a crew who spoke no English and filmed illegally in New Orleans. ---
**Author:** ![Student\_Driver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3da27b/32.png) [@Student\_Driver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Student_Driver)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2010, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-dvd-commentary-tracks/550327/59 "2010-08-19T08:03:14Z")
> [@Just\_Ed](#): > > > [@Student\_Driver](#): > > > > The big reason why I was disappointed in the home releases of his last two movies, _Zack and Miri Make a Porno_ and _Cop-Out_, was their lack of commentary. > > And he did quite an extensive commentary for it [Cop-Out] (albeit apparently only available on the blu-ray edition). Oh good, thank you for the correction. Looks like I’ve been a victim of the DVD/Blu Ray features war, unfortunately; similar to my disappointment at no commentary on the LD for Mallrats, but getting it on DVD. Shame the ex got the BR player and HDTVs, but I will at least have something to look forward to. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-dvd-commentary-tracks/550327.md?page=2)